1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an incontinence strap for treating urinary incontinence, in particular, urinary incontinence in females.
2. Description of Related Art
Various operative methods and specially designed operating utensils and implants have been developed for remedying urinary incontinence. Several operative methods require opening the abdominal cavity in order to introduce items, similar to prostheses, that either encircle the urethra in the vicinity of the neck of the bladder or press against it from above or below (cf. WO 00/18319, WO 90/01016, WO 91/00069, U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,690, and WO 85/02993).
The so-called “plastic rein” was developed in the 1960's. In the case of this particular device, a strap that is wrapped around the underside of the urethra in order to raise the bladder, along with the neck of the bladder, which will be particularly helpful if the bladder has sagged, is attached within the abdominal cavity. The minimally invasive introduction of an incontinence strap in the form of a U-shaped noose that reaches around the underside of the urethra and, for example, in the case of female patients, is emplaced in the abdominal cavity by inserting it through the wall of the vagina, where the free ends of the noose terminate on the peritoneum, but, for the time being, are not attached thereto, has proven particularly beneficial. The strap is anchored by the ingrowth of connective tissue. Such straps and the associated instruments for inserting them into the lower abdomen are described in WO 90/03766, WO 96/06567, WO 97/13465, and WO 2001/030246.